Requirements at some companies that executives, directors, and key employees own a specified amount of company stock so that their financial interests are clearly aligned with those of shareholders. The most commonly used guidelines require stock ownership with a value based on some multiple of salary (e.g., 3x salary). A minority of companies express ownership as a specific number of shares. The guidelines are tiered by position so that the CEO has the highest level ownership requirement.

For details of this topic, see the FAQ on share ownership and stock retention guidelines.